Panel members

Meet Jannes Maes, our first pannel member for the Foodprint Debate on the 9th of May 🙌. Jannes will be speaking as president of CEJA Young Farmers and a member of Groene Kring 🚜.

“As young farmers, in Flanders, Belgium, Europe and the world, the future of food production and consumption comes close to our everyday life. The point of view on and especially of todays and tomorrows farmers is essential for the discussion on sustainable farming. We feel it is our responsibility to contribute to the debate with our perspective, hoping that we can transfer, if even a fraction of, the passion we feel about food and farming!”

Meet Elodie d’Halluweyn, our second pannel member for the Foodprint Debate on the 9th of May 🙌. Elodie is the vice-president of Végétik.

Végétik is a belgian NGO advocating plant-based diets and vegan lifestyles 🌱. They denounce the negative impact of animal proteins on environment, health and animal welfare. Conversely, they propose concrete solutions to end a meat, eggs, dairy and animal products consumption. They do so through cooking lessons, workshops on nutrition and public awareness campaigns. Végétik’s slogan is therefore: “For a more sustainable and a fairer world, let’s choose a more plant-based diet”.

Jelle will represent Rikolto – Vredeseilanden💬. He sheds a light on why food sustainability is important to Rikolto: “Climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, health problems,… All the big challenges of our time are somehow linked to the way we produce, process and consume food. But if food is the problem, food can also fix it. That’s why Rikolto is committed to change the recipe of our food system – together with farmers, industry leaders and politicians”.

“The global challenge for the agricultural sector is to feed all mouths. As a result, high-tech techniques are becoming more and more accepted and this trend will continue in all forms of agriculture. This will certainly ensure that our farmers work in a more sustainable and efficient way, with extra attention for the environment, the people and society. Food is and remains a basis of our civilization. But food cannot be produced without farmers, also here in Flanders and Belgium.” 🚜

Professor De Smet will speak on behalf of BAMST, an academic non-profit organization that aims at providing science-based information on all aspects of meat and its role in sustainable food security 🥩. For meat production and consumption is nowadays questioned for several reasons, despite its longstanding nutritional and socio-cultural role. Hence, BAMST would like to contribute to the debate on the role of meat in sustainable diets.